Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, is employing humanoid robots in hotels where coronavirus patients with mild symptoms are being kept. The city authority has recently revealed this in a statement.
The statement reads that two types of robot will be used in the selected hotels to cheer up corona patients plus advising hotel staff to maintain social distance.
The two robots are ‘Pepper’ and ‘Whiz’. Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot and ‘Whiz’ is an autonomous vacuum cleaner robot. Both robots are made by Japanese firm SoftBank Robotics.
Since April 17, the city government has moved coronavirus patients with mild symptoms into select hotels in the capital to relieve pressure on hospitals.
For patients, checking into these hotels can be a lonesome experience as they must register themselves, keep to their rooms, and can only go down to the lobby three times a day to pick up their meals at designated time slots. Taking these things into considerations, Tokyo metropolitan government has opted for using robots for the help of the patients.
Of this initiative, a spokesperson for the city government said, ‘quarantine life in the hotel is very daunting for the patients. I hope the robot can cheer them up and help make their time in the hotel as comfortable as possible.’
Activities of the Robots : The robot ‘Pepper’ is intended to cheer patients and boost morale. It reminds patients to check their temperature regularly and repeats phrases like “united in the fight against coronavirus.”
To note, each coronavirus dedicated hotel has 15 to 20 officials, one doctor and two to three nurses. They all wear full protective gear when walking through the lobby, the corridors and when checking in on each patient. Source : CNN
